Bengaluru, 28 October

Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R Ashoka on Wednesday alleged that the Congress, ahead of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the State, had diverted Rs 20 crore in public funds to print 90 lakh voter identity cards and distribute them when the City had only 59 lakh voters. 

He demanded a CBI probe into the matter.

Speaking at a press conference in Bengaluru, he alleged that the Congress government and the State Election Commission invited tenders a day after the national poll body announced the exercise on 14 May. Ashoka claimed this was a ploy to “steal” the Greater Bengaluru Authority elections, which have been pending. 

“The Karnataka government released funds worth Rs 20 crore to issue state voter ID cards for the corporation elections,” Ashoka said.

Questioning the need for separate voter ID cards, the BJP leader said the Election Commission of India had already issued voter ID cards to citizens. He alleged that the state government sanctioned Rs 20 crore and issued a tender without following the prescribed procedures.

“There was a single tender, and the cards were printed immediately,” he said.

Citing figures from voter list announced after the SIR exercise on Tuesday, Ashoka said that the list showed only 59 lakh voters, leaving a difference of 31 lakh between the number of voters and the number of cards printed.

“Now, in the SIR, the voter list announced yesterday shows only 59 lakh voters. You have already printed 90 lakh cards. What about the voter ID cards for the remaining 31 lakh voters?” he asked.

It is worth noting that there were 1.03 voters in Bengaluru before the SIR process began, but over 45 per cent of them were deleted during the roll revision, leaving the 59.08 lakh figure that Ashoka has cited.